Recruiting

When I first decided to make my career change, I interviewed several coaches in my network to ask what they liked and disliked about their jobs. Across the board, most respondents said that recruiting was their least favorite thing. They referred to the amount of travel and long hours spent on the computer searching databases and sending e-mails, but they didn’t mention anything about actually meeting with the recruits.

I just spent the past two seasons (indoor and outdoor track) searching thousands of profiles on berecruited.com, copying and pasting potential recruits’ information into Excel and sending out individual e-mails. Yes, the work was tedious, but I actually enjoyed the challenge of seeing how many athletes I could “bookmark” and communicate with.

It was just yesterday that I had the opportunity to meet with a recruit in person, on my own as a coach. The head coach happened to be out on vacation and asked me to cover for him. I was delighted! As I walked to the admissions building to meet her, I asked myself where the butterflies were in my stomach. But for once, they weren’t there! I’m no longer the one interviewing for a job or admission into a school, I am the “interviewer” in this case and I finally felt the confidence that is normally missing in these situations. I really enjoyed meeting the recruit and her parents. It was fun to talk about our team, our practice schedule, the fun we have, and about the school and its programs, traditions, and academics. As I heard myself speak I thought to myself, “Wow – sounds like a cool job that coach has.” I also really enjoy meeting new people and was glad to see my communication and interpersonal skills at use.

I left the meeting feeling happy and proud of the potential impact I had on the recruit and her parents. We really got along well, and I hope to see her application this year! It feels great knowing that I not only impact the lives of current athletes, but also – potentially – those of recruits.

So coaches, am I still in the honeymoon stage? Will I, too, come to dislike recruiting? Of course it will depend on the amount of travel I end up doing and the attitude of the recruits, etc, but what else is in my future in regards to recruiting?